Tuesday 27 November 2012

The times they are a changin'

And so are Parliamentary opinions (and the views and concerns of sometimes the same parliamentarians)  along with them; another reason for the Church to be very wary of too closely embracing a transient culture. Many of us fear that in terms of the future, the reaction to the Synod vote of the Church of England's leaders, past, present and to come, has written the zeitgeist a blank cheque...
Thanks to Anglican Mainstream for posting this link
Given the involvement of a certain Mr Frank Field M. P. both then and now, we can legitimately ask how exactly has the situation changed so that the traditionalist minority actually needs less protection now than in 1993?
1993 "...In his powerful speech Frank Field pointed out that most of the Committee’s time had been spent ‘considering how the Measure will affect some of Her Majesty’s subjects, especially those who disagree with the Measure … They are not people with different views who joined the Church; they are people who, at one time, found themselves in the majority and now find themselves in the minority. The Ecclesiastical Committee therefore, quite rightly, spent most of its time considering how that group should be protected’. Speaking of the Act of Synod he went on, ‘That Act of Synod was not offered; the information that Synod could pass such a Measure had to be extracted from Synod witnesses and it was almost like getting blood out of a stone … I hope the House will consider carefully what further Measures may be necessary at some later date to protect the right of the minority who disagree with the Measure’...."
2012  "In response to the vote Frank Field MP, a former member of the Synod, today tabled a Presentation Bill in Parliament which seeks to remove from the statute book the exemptions from the Equality legislation that the Church of England enjoys. If passed, the Bill would make it illegal for the Church of England to discriminate against women when appointing bishops, as they currently do. Frank Field said: “This is a terribly disappointing result, which goes against the firm wishes of the vast majority of Church of England members. Parliament has a role in agreeing to or rejecting the Synod’s decisions, and I believe that MPs should now use this role, in a helpful way, to ensure those firm wishes are complied with.”  The Bill is supported by Diana Johnson, Natascha Engel, Elfyn Llwyd, Andrew George, Nicholas Soames, Roberta Blackman-Woods, Eleanor Laing and Helen Goodman. The second reading of the Bill will take place on January 18th 2013. 



1 comment:

  1. There you go. Ban Christianity. By law.

    Interesting to note how the Field has changed.

    ReplyDelete

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